Today I received an email from a woman named Laura Blum, founder of a program called Bookclub4Boys, which seeks to make literacy fun and engaging for younger boys who struggle in their early years.  Given the gender acheivement gap, I think this cite looks at the very least notworthy and would no doubt be worth checking out for primary educators, or any teachers of literacy.

Ms. Blum’s email came at an interesting time for me in my literacy work.  This year I am teaching the 7th grade advanced readers (those who read on an 8th grade level and above), and truth be told I’m finding it kind of a challenge to challenge them.  One idea I had was to get my kids to join goodreads.com - a social web network similar enough to myspace to engage the kids; different enough from myspace to keep them safe and focused on school work.  It’s a book sharing network in which subscribers can post books they’ve read, rate, and recommend them to others.  There are also messaging options, and our class has started a private bookclub, where we will discuss our class book Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. 

I’m hoping this will both challenge and engage my students, but I think it could also be used as a motivational tool for reluctant readers.  Like Ms. Blum noted, reading has to be fun for literacy instruction to be effective.  I completely agree.  For most of us, reading came naturally and easily, and it’s hard to imagine what it’s like to hate and fear the written word.  Manking them want to do it is half the battle.